Live updates: Trump heads to Beijing for summit with Chinese President Xi
AP News • • nation
Key Points:
- President Trump's efforts to influence U.S. House redistricting have had mixed results, with South Carolina senators rejecting a GOP-backed redistricting push while Missouri's court upheld a Trump-backed map favoring Republicans ahead of the midterms.
- Trump is delaying payment of a $7.4 million defamation award to columnist E. Jean Carroll pending Supreme Court review, denying Carroll's sexual assault claims from 1996 as fabricated.
- FBI Director Kash Patel strongly denied allegations of excessive drinking and unavailability during a Senate hearing, responding angrily to Democratic criticism and accusing a lawmaker of unrelated misconduct.
- Trump is traveling to Beijing to meet President Xi Jinping amid ongoing tensions over Iran, with the U.S. seeking Chinese leverage to influence Iran's behavior and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, though expectations for major breakthroughs remain low.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testified before Congress on the $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget request and the ongoing Iran conflict, facing bipartisan scrutiny over military strategy, war costs, ammunition supplies, and U.S. relations with allies.